If Paul George Ever Does Get Traded, This Is Where He Could End Up

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New rumors have surfaced that the Oklahoma City Thunder have no plans to trade Paul George (19.9 PPG, 5.7 RB, 3.1 AST) as of now. George himself also added that he is ‘not giving in’ and will not ask Oklahoma City to trade him. That’s nice and all that he is willing to finish out the season with this team, but Sam Presti should still be looking for potential trade partners.

George has a player option for next year and can opt for free agency. That should be a red flag for Presti. Since this season has not gone as hoped, George may feel the need to look elsewhere at the very least. I’ve only watched a few Oklahoma City games, but from what I’ve seen, this team seems like it wont ever fit well together. Initially, too many ball handlers was the potential issue before the season started and that has become a reality.

From what I’ve seen, Russell Westbrook(23.3 PPG, 9.6 RB, 9.8 AST) has a lot of last second kick outs when driving to the basket which results in low quality shots for his teammates. I’ve seen Carmelo Anthony (17.3 PPG, 6.3 RB, 1.5 AST) been frustrated on multiple occasions, and George just looks like he still doesn’t know what his role is. It’s not working out, but I believe there is a potential trade that would really benefit Oklahoma City and one other team.

The Houston Rockets should consider bringing George aboard by sending Ryan Anderson (10.9 PPG, 5.3 RB, .9 AST) to Oklahoma City along with a pick that satisfies OKC enough. With how well Houston is playing I’m sure you’re thinking this would be a really unintelligent move, but hear me out.

Benefits for Houston

Houston would add more fire power with George alongside Chris Paul and James Harden. Rumors have also been floating around that Houston was trying to trade Anderson, so this would be icing on the cake for them. Chances are George would opt out and not accept his player option. This would then lead to a good amount of money being opened up for Houston to pursue a star in free agency, such as LeBron James(28.1 PPG, 8.2 RB, 9.2 AST). Yes this trade wouldn’t just be for winning now, it could be for an even brighter future for Houston.

Benefits for Oklahoma City

Alright, I know it seems like OKC is getting the bad end of the deal here, but it actually may be what they need right now. Oklahoma City has no money to pursue a free agent in the summer, unless Carmelo Anthony opts out. I believe he wont because I don’t see anyone wanting to pay him a lot of money unless it’s a J.J. Redick (16.9 PPG, 2.7 RB, 3.6 AST) type of deal where it’s a boatload of money for one year. Even then most contending teams don’t have that kind of cap space and Anthony wants to win. With OKC receiving Anderson, they are getting a quality power forward who can shoot the three. Anthony will be a happy camper because with George gone he can slide back up to the small forward spot. I think this OKC team is a team that is more balanced but with three point weapons available (other than Andre Roberson(4.9 PPG, 4.5 RB, 1.1 AST)).

Do I think this will happen, maybe. Will both teams win more games with this trade, not necessarily. That said, it seems like a risk worth taking for both teams.